UAE Foreign Ministry bans all Qatari news websites

A UAE Foreign Ministry source confirmed on Wednesday that all Qatari media websites have been banned.

The step taken by the UAE was preceded by the step of Saudi authorities that had banned the websites of al-Jazeera, Qatar News Agency, al-Watan, al-Raya, al-Arab, ash-sharq and al-Jazeera Media Group, al-Jazeera documentary and al-Jazeera in English.

The ban of the websites in Saudi Arabia and the UAE came in consequence to the statements of the emir of Qatar on Tuesday. The statements were quoted by the Qatar News Agency, about Doha’s positions supporting extremist groups and inflaming the events in Bahrain.

The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, stressed that Qatar has succeeded in building strong relations with the US and Iran at the same time, praising the role of Iran on the regional and Islamic levels. He added that it is not wise to escalate the situation against Iran, especially that the latter is a superpower that ensures the stability in the region when cooperating with it. According to the statements, Qatar is keen on cooperating with Iran for the stability of neighboring countries.